


The Old Pilgrim

by dramatorama



Series: comment fic [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 20:13:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3909124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dramatorama/pseuds/dramatorama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vincent has never forgotten his promise to Nanaki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Old Pilgrim

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reeby10](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeby10/gifts).



> Theme: "A Hundred Years" (or more)

Nanaki has been making this journey since his eldest children were cubs. Every year he passes through forest (and desert, and whichever seaport the humans favour) to cross the ocean to old Midgar. He never forgets a face; this year's wizened ferryman barks out a laugh when he sees Nanaki and calls him the old pilgrim.

He leaps cliffs and canyons as he never would at home; fearless in the memory of his youth, he ignores the creaking and popping of old bones. The miles grow shorter as he grows closer, and he stops at the edge of a cliff to admire the view of a city in riotous bloom. The kudzu grows thick over the ruins of pillars and plate, making a heaving, organic thing of Reeve's first exercises in geometry.

Nanaki shuts his eyes, just for a second, and then it's dusk; the flicker and buzz of midges and fireflies has replaced birdsong. He feels a hand on his back, and opens his eyes. Vincent settles down beside him. Neither of them need to speak just yet.

Nanaki knows that he is growing old, that sooner or later the days when he wakes up already tired will be more and more frequent, and that one day he will no longer be able to make this journey. Next year he will bring his eldest granddaughter, who is sullen and loving by turns; she is the same age as he was when the Turks captured him and took him to Midgar. Vincent will like her, he thinks. But this year it's just the two of them, and Nanaki is not alone and never lonely.


End file.
